An Unlikely Heroine
by Grand Admiral Jello
Summary: How just did a girl from Pallet become the greatest trainer in the world? This story will portray the Pokemon world game canon  in a realistic and non-gamey fashion. Plausibility & realism are the goals. Shipping... probably. We'll see, it's not the focu
1. Prologue

**Personae huius fabulae**

PkMn Trainer Ashley Leaf (the heroine)

PkMn Trainer Red Leaf (her dorky brother)

PkMn Trainer Gary Oak (the irrepressible hotshot)

Professor Samuel Oak (the Pokémon expert)

**Author's Note: **

Brief summary: We're all told that Red is the greatest trainer of all time. Well, Leaf was created in his exact image—they even have the same hair, inexplicably. So if Leaf's his alternate universe doppelganger, then she's the greatest trainer as well. This is her story—Red's still around, but he's just a sidekick.

Yes, this is a journey fic. It purports to be a novelization of FR/LG, and so the plot may not seem very original. It probably won't be—that's not the goal. The objective is to make Pokémon seem realistic in every level while still staying close to the essence of the franchise: thus battling and interaction will seem different, and characterization and personality will receive the utmost attention (characters have very limited personalities and growth arcs in the games). Originality is overrated—and I mean that, if it refers to banal plot elements. A plot is a sequence of events: when you add characters and personalities, it becomes a story. Using the same chain of events as a video game is not unoriginal or plagiaristic, rather it's the simple nature of adaptation which exists throughout the history of literature, and was even praised in antiquity (some of those most famous works, such as _Oedipus Rex_ or even the Homeric epics are retellings of earlier stories). What matters is not what happens, but how it's crafted. Don't be a philistine—if your only interest is a chain of events, go watch some pedestrian TV drama. But if you want to give it a read, I'll do my best to make sure you're entertained.

Capitalization: attacks and Pokémon names are in all-caps in the games. I am going to follow standard English usage with animals and nouns and keep them in the lowercase unless the situation demands otherwise.

Pronouns and Pokémon: Verbally, trainers will acknowledge a Pokémon's gender if they are inclined to do so. I have decided to use the genderless 'it' to refer to Pokémon in prose, so as to avoid pronoun confusion with actual humans.

Ages: The Red/Blue manual apparently states that Red was 11 when he started his journey, and the anime says that trainers can get their licenses at 10. That may be so, but it seems far too young an age to journey the entire world. Additionally, the official artwork and sprites of Leaf and the other main characters make them seem closer to being aged 13-15. I have thus decided to age them up for the sake of realism appropriate to the situations they'll be in, but to keep them young enough that others still amaze at their progress at such a young age.

Sexual content: The main character is 14 years old. Despite whatever kids may be up to these days, for the purposes of this story, that's too young to be involved in any sexual relationships—period. That said, people that age are precocious when it comes to that sort of thing and may tease and annoy each other at times, and older people say lurid and rude things. Such things may end up happening, as they would in real life, but decent characters will and should take a dim view of such things.

**Updates:** 1/14/11: I've made a dramatic change to the story. Red and Leaf are now siblings, and share a family name—Leaf's first name has been changed from Mary to Ashley. I decided I rather liked the idea that they were siblings, especially since they're drawn to look like twins for FR/LG (since they're effectively the same character, since the opposite gendered character never appears in this game, unlike all Gen III and subsequent games). Consequently, I've tried to go through everything I've written so far and remove any and all romantic tension between Red and Leaf: incest is gross.

**Prologue**

_Pallet Town_

"Wakey wakey," came the sound of an incredibly smug voice, cutting through the pleasant serenity of sleep with irritating effectiveness. Then came the sound of blankets being yanked away, followed by the startling sensation of cold morning air washing over a body that had spent the last twelve hours being comfortably warm.

Ashley Leaf's eyelids snapped open, and her eyes flicked about in surprise before settling on a very well-dressed young man. She shrieked and hugged her legs to herself, more out of embarrassment then for modesty, since her night sweater was fairly long. "GARY! What are you doing here?"

"Uh, hi Ash," came her brother's rather more awkward and typically teenage sounding. Ashley turned her head to regard the other speaker, who was dressed in a loose black t-shirt, blue and white jacket, and jeans. A League Expo cap with a stylized 'L' sat atop a face framed with messy black hair. "We were supposed to be at the laboratory an hour ago…"

"Clearly Ash was trying to get her beauty sleep," taunted the other boy. His auburn hair was stylishly spiked, and he wore a fancy silk sweater and baggy pants. "I think she may need a few more hours."

Ashley growled. "Get out of here!"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll wait for you downstairs. Keep your pants on… oh wait, you're not wearing any." He grinned and leered at her bare legs.

Ashley grabbed a pillow from behind her and threw it at Gary, hoping to ruin his precious hair. "Out!"

Gary caught it and laughed. "Whatever. Let's go, dude."

Red stared at her for a few moments. Fittingly, his face was turning quite crimson. Shooting Gary an annoyed look, he avoided his sister's eyes and scurried out of the room as quickly as he could.

When the two boys had left, Ashley jumped out of bed and ran out of her room. She wrestled with her sweater as she ran across the hall, pulling it above her head as her mother announced that Gary had come to visit her.

"Thanks for telling me, mom!" Ashley yelled back as she shut the bathroom door. Bathing was a hasty affair, and her head was filled with thoughts about this momentous day as she toweled off and wrapped the cloth around herself before she ran back into her room. She hadn't even bothered to dry her hair.

First, Ashley readied her yellow satchel bag by making sure that she had her IDs and all her relevant paperwork inside. She had just recently turned fourteen, and her mother had finally consented to let her meet with the professor. It had been a long four years, and the only consolation was that the boys had waited for her—they didn't get along often anymore, but they still had their rare showings of mutual solidarity.

She was ready to leave then and there, but hastily remembered that she needed to get dressed first. Breathing a sigh of relief at having narrowly escaped humiliation in front of the guys, she rummaged through her dresser until she found an outfit she thought would be light and airy enough to do the job. She slid on a clingy sky blue tank top with thin straps that created the illusion of dark piping with the black sports bra underneath, slipped on her underwear and a bright red miniskirt, and topped the outfit with her one concession to fashion, a wide-brimmed white hat with a band around the sides crowned by a half Pokéball—both in red.

Moments later, she emerged from her room and hopped down the stairs on a single shoe-clad foot while she fiddled with getting a loose blue sock on the other. Her remaining shoe fell out from the crook of her elbow and she fumbled down the stairs in her attempt to grab it. Red and Gary emerged from the living room to find her sprawled on the floor, and the last thing that Ashley could remember was the sound of Gary's mirthful laughter.

[…]

Ashley came to and was immediately confronted with a blinding yellow light. She shrieked, and the hands that were holding her left eye open withdrew with alacrity.

"What's going on? Where am I?" she shouted.

A man in a lab coat and khaki slacks had been holding her shoulders, and looked at her with some concern. Ashley remembered that she was on her way to see him when she fell—this was Professor Oak! Of course—he was tending to her, hence the little flash light.

"Do you remember who you are?" Oak asked gently. "Do you remember if you're a boy or a girl?"

She looked at him with blank astonishment. What sort of question was _that_? As far as she knew, not even amnesiacs were that confused.

"Please, tell me." Oak insisted.

Ashley could hear Gary muttering about her meager breasts and how he couldn't blame his grandfather for the confusion. She buried her face in her hands in embarrassment and annoyance. "I'm a _girl_, professor. Can we ge—"

"What's your name, dear?" Oak asked, also in that irritatingly kind voice.

"I'm Ash," she said. "We were supposed to get our Pokémon today."

"Yes, yes," Oak waved his hand in dismissal. He grabbed Gary by the arm and pulled him over to stand in front of Ashley, who was still lying on some table. The boy was trying to get a good look up her skirt while Oak clapped him on the shoulders. "This is my grandson. Do you remember his name?"

"Yes! I remember Gary. May we get on with it?" Ashley swung her legs off the table and vaulted to the floor, regretting only that she hadn't "accidentally" kicked Gary in the process. Still, she would put up with his antics a thousand times over as long as it meant that she'd get a Pokémon of her own. She'd dreamed of this day, and not even he could sour her mood.

Oak did look rather pensive though. "Well… I had set out three Pokémon just for you, but I could hardly refuse the other children when they requested to have their starters. I can't play favorites. Had you three came earlier this morning, as the other trainers did…"

"Gramps! Are you saying you gave away my Pokémon?" Gary demanded insolently. For once, though, Ashley was forced to agree with him. She'd waited so long, and now her hopes were to be dashed because she overslept? Oak had promised her this! It simply wasn't fair!

Overcome by her frustration, Ashley walked away as Oak tried to calm him down. As much as she wanted to yell herself, she knew that it wouldn't do any good. For now, she just wanted to be alone. As she made her way past bookcases and shelves stuffed with dusty tomes and instruments of all kinds, she heard the sound of rapid footsteps as Red jogged up alongside her.

"It's pretty crummy, isn't it?" Red said casually, with his hands firmly inside his jean pockets. Out of the corner of her eye, Ashley could see him searching her face for clues as to what she thought.

She forced herself to look forward. "Yeah," she offered, hoping that he'd take the hint that she wasn't in the mood for conversation—especially not conversation rehashing what had just transpired.

"Yeah, and it looks like the professor does have one of his own spare Pokémon for Gary," Red continued on rather obliviously.

"Good for him," Ashley muttered through her clenched jaws. "Listen, could you just give me some space?"

"Yeah sure…" he said, sounding rather deflated. The sound of his footsteps alongside her abruptly ceased.

Ashley knew she was being harsh, but she didn't have time to coddle him right now. She stormed out of the laboratory and slammed the door shut, just out of annoyance. The sound seemed to have shocked the few townspeople who were milling about.

Pallet Town was a sleepy little hamlet nestled at the tip of a peninsula, and was surrounded by forest on two sides and featured a calm lagoon to the south. Aside from the bulk of Professor Oak's laboratory, the town featured a few small houses and very few modern amenities. That wasn't to say that it was necessarily backwards: it was a place of leisure and relaxation, and Ashley had never wanted for anything. True, her family was not as wealthy as the Oaks—but the professor was something of an international celebrity. This fact often went to Gary's head.

The quiet suited her at the moment. Ashley headed straight for the lagoon, and sat cross-legged on the grass, contemplating the water. She gazed upon her reflection, which floated on the water with a serenity that she did not really have. Annoyed, she grabbed a fistful of grass and dirt, and tossed it into that pristine blue reservoir. She wanted to act out—she knew it was terribly immature of her and would solve nothing, but it felt _good_.

She took off her shoes and socks, laid them aside, and disentangled her legs so that she could insert her feet into the water. She wriggled her toes and gave a sigh of satisfaction as the coolness of the water brought a soothing sensation up her whole body. Then she leaned backwards until she was resting against the grass, and beheld the sky. Ashley resting like that for several minutes, just pondering the clouds, when she heard a strangled coo from somewhere nearby.

Propping herself up with her elbows, Ashley looked around until she noticed something sticking out of the water, between her legs. Her heart leapt in her chest and she almost jumped out of the water, before realizing that it was just a cute little Pokémon. It was light blue, a little darker than her tanktop, and it had little fin-like things on both sides of its head. Its bubbly eyes looked at her with what she imagined was a curious expression, but it looked a little pained.

How wild. Ashley had never been able to intuit a Pokémon's emotions before—though she realized that she'd never truly been close enough to one to try. Then she noticed a red-stained glass shard on the side of the creature's neck, embedded deep in its skin. The blood looked like it had scabbed over, but Ashley imagined that it couldn't be comfortable.

"Oh, you poor dear," she murmured. She reached for the sharp, intending to pull it out, but the creature squealed in panic and dove back under the water. "No, come back!" she called out to it, in the same tone of a mother calling to a frightened child.

The head reappeared in the water several feet away, and the creature—now clearly serpent-like—regarded her warily. Ashley had gone swimming in the lagoon many times, and she knew it wasn't terribly deep—but mother had always warned her not to go too far, because there was a precipitous drop in the landbank less than one hundred feet from the shore. She'd have to be careful not to scare the creature too far off.

Ashley slowly stood up, and stepped gingerly into the water. Sensing the creature's obvious discomfort, she moved very slowly—lifting one leg at a time and minimizing her forward motion so as not to create too many ripples around her leg. So far, it was working, and the creature didn't seem to be fleeing. It looked as curious as she was.

When the water reached her upper thigh, she lifted up the edges of her skirt and edged closer to the creature, which began to float off in the opposite direction. She started saying soothing things, as one might speak to a baby, in hopes of calming it down. Giving up all hopes of staying dry when the water reached her undergarments, she reached out to the creature with her hands.

"There now, I'm not going to hurt you," she told the Pokémon in her softest voice, one tinged with enchantment. She was in love with the wonderful creature, after having just seen it. She bent her knees and embraced its neck, and it seemed to calm down considerably at her touch, as if it understood what she was feeling. Its skin turned out to be composed of minute little scales, but the Pokémon wasn't hard or slimy at all—in fact, it felt soft, like a baby's bottom.

She felt at peace with her body resting against the Pokémon, and the water lapping up to her stomach. She would have enjoyed this tranquil moment forever, but she could feel the tension in the creature's body. It was clearly hurting. Still staying close, she let go of the Pokémon and examined the little shard. It didn't seem embedded too deeply.

She grabbed at it, and the creature gave what sounded remarkably close to a scream. She yanked harder, knowing that it hurt but that the Pokémon would be better off without it. As she struggled with it, she looked towards the shore and wondered if anyone was around to help, but they all seemed clustered around the tall grass at the northern end of the town. She shook her head, and then pulled at the shard with all her might—drawing blood from her hands, but managing to pull it out. The Pokémon gave a massive tremor, and then fainted outright from the pain.

Ashley reacted instinctively and caught the creature's head in her lap. She didn't know if it breathed water, but she couldn't find any gills—she even checked behind its ear-fin-things. Confident that she wasn't accidentally suffocating it, Ashley reached underneath and lifted the creature, easily hefting it despite the fact that it was huge and seemed twice as long as she was tall. She felt like some sort of heroic knight, carrying the serpent in her arms as she exited the water.

Eventually someone noticed her coming out of the lagoon, and the townspeople started to raise a commotion. Professor Oak, who was fussing over Red, ran towards the water and yelled at Ashley, "My girl, do you know what you have there?"

She rushed over to Oak, feeling exhausted despite the very slight weight of the Pokémon. "It's hurt. Please, take me to your lab," she managed to say in between breaths.

"Let me take it, Ashley," Oak instructed. "I'll have my assistants watch over it."

But she refused to relinquish her new friend. "No, I'll go. Please come with me, professor."

Oak looked at her, then at Red, and then back at her. He put his right hand on her shoulder and said, "Very well. We'll take it to the lab and see what we can do."

"Her," Ashley said.

"What?"

"_Her_."

"Oh," Oak said, apparently deciding not to ask. "Do you know what Pokémon that is?" There was no mistaking the sound of excitement in the professor's voice.

Ashley shook her head, then waited while the professor opened the door of the lab for her.

"It—excuse me, she," Oak corrected himself when Ashley cleared her throat in objection, "is a dratini. They're very rare dragon Pokémon, and until very recently they were considered mythical. Most trainers will go their entire lives without seeing one."

The girl barely gave thought to the professor's words, since the dratini's well-being was all that she could bring herself to think about. She brought the dragon to an examination table in the lab, and then insisted on staying alongside the table as the scientists did their work. Somebody graciously offered her a towel to dry herself off with, as well as a cup of warm milk. She sipped from her drink, and then craned her head in to watch what the scientists were doing.

She wasn't at all sure what they were doing, but she did see them put some sort of ointment on the wound, and the dragon was restrained and hooked up to something that looked rather like a breathing harness.

Eventually, they quit work and retired for the night. Oak offered to call Ashley if anything happened, but she insisted on staying with the Pokémon for the night. So she placed a chair next to the table and watched the dragon's slow breathing all night. Eventually she grew tired and fell asleep with her head resting in her arms, and her arms lying on the dragon's flank.

[…]

The next morning, Ashley was awakened by the dratini's mild thrashing. She blearily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and regarded the Pokémon with a sort of tired stupor. Her back was aching and she wasn't exactly possessed of all her wits so soon after waking up, but she could have sworn the dragon was looking at her. It—no, she—was awake, that much was certain.

Ashley realized that the poor thing must have been dreadfully frightened by all the restraints, and the muzzle-like breathing apparatus it was hooked up to. She favored the dratini with a smile, and noticed that it actually calmed at her approach. It still seemed agitated—but did it recognize her from before? She hoped so.

When Ashley finished removing the restraints, the dratini began to wriggle itself off the table. A technician grabbed the phone and called the professor, while a few others looked as if they were going to tie her Pokémon back up—Ashley gestured for them to stay where they were.

"Be careful, you're going to fall off the table!" she told the dragon in a rather concerned voice. The dragon just looked up at her and cooed, and then continued what it was doing.

Then she realized what was going on. It was _shedding_! She walked around the table to the other side, and lo! The wound had vanished, and she could see the damaged scales being sloughed off somewhere around the serpent's midsection.

By the time Oak arrived, the dragon had finished shedding and was on the floor, nuzzling against Ashley's leg. He looked at the two of them for some time, then went over to a computer console and pressed a button. After grabbing something that Ashley couldn't see from her vantage point, he turned back to her and handed her a small spherical object—a Pokéball!

"I think it's time I gave you this," he said, with a note of pride in his voice.

Ashley took the ball, and looked at it bemusedly. "I don't understand, I thought you said that all the Pokémon were already taken?"

Oak inclined his head and gestured at the dratini with his chin. "I think you've earned the right to train that dratini. Your dedication to her wellbeing was very admirable. But know this: dragon Pokémon are notoriously difficult to raise, and they test the limits of even the best trainers. Your journey as a trainer will be that much harder—knowing this, will you still train her?"

Ashley hesitated for just the barest of moments. She hadn't even started, and the professor was already speaking of grave difficulties—but she already knew her answer. "I met this Pokémon for a reason. It'll be a challenge we'll take together, and it wouldn't be worth doing if it were easy."

Oak smiled. "Just so. I think… yes, let me call the others." He patted her shoulder, and then went off to use the phone.

Ashley looked at her first Pokéball, and then at the dratini. "Well, Dratini—you don't mind if I call you that, do you? Of course you don't. So I thought I'd ask you first, if you'd like to join me as a Pokémon trainer? Or a coordinator? I haven't really decided yet. I mean, being a breeder sounds interesting too. Or I could be a collector, I have a head start with a rare one like you. Oh, but I don't mean that you're just some prize, no, we'll be the best of friends."

Dratini just looked at her placidly.

Ashley smiled sheepishly. "No, I wasn't really expecting you to respond to me. It just helps to talk these things out, you know?"

Ashley tapped the Pokéball against the dragon's side, and the ball opened up and drew the Pokémon inside with a flash of yellow light. She beheld the ball with pride, and then pulled out a marker from the side pocket of her bag and marked a stylized 'L' above the Pokéball's center button. With her bag now lying against her stomach, she placed the Pokéball in the left compartment, which would be located at the rear of the messenger bag when it was hanging alongside her left hip. The marker returned to the small pocket on the opposite side of the bag, while the larger central compartment contained her most important supplies.

Ashley loafed around the laboratory waiting for the others to arrive, and spent much of the time poking and prodding the various instruments, much to the consternation of the professor's assistants. It seemed that none of their work involved actual Pokémon, since they were pouring over numerical tables on the computer and forever scrawling little notes on pieces of paper. It seemed that being a Pokémon researcher as a lot less interesting than it sounded, and Ashley mentally noted to scratch it off her list of possible professions.

Red arrived first, and hovered by the professor. Ashley gave him a little wave, but he just pretended not to notice. Was he ignoring her? Just yesterday he had been talking her ear off, and today he was so quiet. Boys made little sense, Ashley decided.

Still, she walked over to them in hopes of overhearing what they were discussing. It seems that Red was pestering Oak for a Pokémon. She had forgotten that he was the only one of them who didn't have one by now.

"I'm sorry, Red, but there's nothing I can do for you. It will take at least two weeks to order the next batch of League starters, and I can only place them in bulk—all the young trainers in Pallet have already received their allotment this season," the professor explained.

Red simply looked crestfallen. "But can't I catch one?"

"Not without a Pokémon of your own, I'm afraid. Otherwise I would catch one for you." Then Oak paused, as if mulling over an idea. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to accompany the others for a time? I'm sure they'll help you catch a Pokémon."

Red didn't look very pleased.

Then Gary strolled in, affecting a casual air but acting like he owned the place—which he might, in some years. The thought scared her. Now, while Ashley and Red still wore the clothes they had donned the previous day, Gary had assembled an entirely new ensemble. He wore a black collared shirt, open at the neck and short of sleeve, and some purple jeans. His hair was spiked and gelled, of course, and he wore what appeared to be a fanny pack.

Ashley had to cover a giggle. The ever macho Gary Oak could be so terribly girly at times. She would have to make sure to tease him about it later.

"Alright, gramps, what's up? I'm ready to head off on my journey already."

"Now wait just a moment," Oak chided, "I have a job for you. Ashley has caught a rather rare Pokémon, and it occurs to me that I could use your help in my research."

Gary's eyes twitched when his grandfather praised her, but he said nothing.

"I've long dreamed of creating a complete encyclopedia of all Pokémon," Oak went on, "but I'm too old and my days as a trainer are long behind me. That's where you children come in—it may take many years, but I can't think of anyone with more potential. Let me show you my new device, the Pokédex."

He handed the three children a small red PDA, as well as some Pokéballs. After explaining the device's function, he told them to keep in touch with him on their journey. They were about to leave, but Gary took hold of her arm.

"Wait a moment, hot stuff. I want to see this fabulous Pokémon of yours."

Ashley pulled her arm away from Gary's grasp, and pulled some Pokéballs out of her bag. She found the one with the 'L' and lightly tossed it to the floor. Dratini emerged with a flash of yellow light, and gently cooed.

Gary pressed some buttons on his Pokédex, which promptly read out a brief summary of the species in a flat electronic voice. Then he scowled.

"Big deal. So you found a worm. Let's see what this dragon of yours can do!" Then he tossed his own Pokéball, and a little blue turtle emerged. It announced its own name, as if terribly proud of that fact. What a silly creature.

"So pushy!" Oak remarked. "Ashley, remember that you have to give commands to your Pokémon, or it won't know what to do. Your Pokémon hasn't been domesticated yet, so it may not know how to respond to your orders."

Great, Ashley thought sourly. Still, 'Tini was a bit larger than that squirtle. There was little to worry about.

She consulted her Pokédex for some attacks a baby dratini would be likely to know, and was disappointed to learn that it only knew of two attacks. This wasn't going to be an easy battle after all. Ashley put her balled fists on her hips and steeled herself for her first Pokémon battle.

"Alright, squirtle, charge at that overgrown snake and give it a tackle!" Gary commanded. He seemed very enthused.

The squirtle began to run towards her dratini, and Ashley waited until it had leapt for its tackle before she issued her order. "Now, 'Tini, stun it with your thunder wave!"

Dratini took the blow and squealed in pain, but then it wrapped itself around the turtle and began squeezing it. The turtle yelped in pain, and tried to free itself, but couldn't. It either ignored or hadn't heard her orders, but its survival instincts worked just fine. Satisfied either way, Ashley pumped a first in the air.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Gary warned, "squirtle—bite to get free!"

But nothing happened.

The squirtle just looked at its trainer in blank confusion, and Gary shared the expression. Then he slapped his face.

"Oh, don't tell me you don't know that attack," he moaned. "Look, it's just like this!" Gary began to mime a biting expression.

Ashley laughed. "I can tell you're going to become a great master, Gary. Maybe your squirtle would respond better if you gave it a cute nickname—like Shelly? Or maybe Sheldon?"

Oak chuckled, but Red didn't react at all. He looked a bit forlorn, probably because he wasn't participating in the battle. He had better be rooting for her rather than Gary, Ashley thought.

Gary growled. "Taunt all you like. I'll still win this." He balled his hands into fists and began to stomp the floor in frustration.

Eventually, the squirtle's efforts paid off and it slipped out of Dratini's grasp. The dragon attempted to ensnare its opponent again, but the turtle began to dodge and continued to tackle the dragon with impunity. Dratini eventually began to cringe every time the squirtle approached, and gave up making attacks entirely, and Ashley sensed that the battle was over. She didn't want her Pokémon getting injured.

"Okay Gary, that's enough. You win," she said quietly.

"What was that?" Gary raised a hand to his ear, "I didn't quite hear you, speak up."

"Don't push it," Ashley warned. She was not in the mood for his attitude right now. She'd tolerated it for years, but there was something intensely personal about losing a match like this. It felt as if it mattered.

They both recalled their Pokémon, and Gary turned to Red and crowed. "Am I great or what?"

Then he came alongside Ashley and told her that he was sure she'd do better next time, in the most infuriatingly condescending tone possible. He topped it off, outrageously, by patting her bottom while he said so.

"Gary…" she started, with anger creeping into her voice.

"Don't sweat it, babe," interrupted, and then gave her left cheek a squeeze through her skirt. He doubtless felt her tense up, because he leaned in to whisper, "smell ya later" and then took an obnoxious sniff of her hair just before he departed.

She squeezed her hands tightly enough that her nails opened up some of the scabs that had formed on account of the glass shard from the other night. She was not happy—no, she was not happy at all. That was putting it lightly, but her mind was too awash with different emotions and feelings to put it all together.

Only one thought was clear: _Gary Oak was a bastard_. Never before had she an unkind thought for anyone in her life and she generally refrained from bad language, but the sentiment still came clear to her mind. Gary was a bastard, and that's all there was to it.

She flinched when Oak put a hand on her shoulder and soothed her, telling her that Gary's squirtle had been the offspring of his championship winning blastoise, and it was predisposed to win. Ashley didn't want people making excuses for her, and she was not yet detached enough to appreciate what Oak was trying to do, so she jerked her shoulder and walked away from Oak.

Red was even more oblivious. "Do you want a hug?" he asked in an irritatingly earnest voice.

"Do you want my foot up your butt?" she replied sharply. Upon seeing the effect of her words, she felt a little pang of shame. There was no use in being a sore loser, and snapping at those who were comforting her would do little to erase the sting of defeat. She hated Gary for doing this to her—it wasn't enough to defeat her, but did he have to turn her into a bitter loser too?

Some part of her knew that it wasn't fair to blame him for her own flaws, but she couldn't yet admit that she was just making excuses. Her pride wouldn't allow her to. She wished she could be a better person than this, but it would simply hurt too much to admit it.

"Come on," she told Red, gesturing for him to follow her out of the lab. She hoped that he was going to say something about her attitude earlier, but he didn't say anything. She owed Red an apology, and she hoped he wouldn't resent him for it. She just wasn't ready to swallow her pride yet—though legally an adult in Kanto, she was still very much a young girl.


	2. Chapter I  Rats!

**Chapter One – Rats!**

_Route 1_

It was almost midday when the pair of young trainers set out towards Viridian City. Having lived in Pallet Town for as long as she could remember, Ashley had little knowledge of the world beyond—though she had of course read of the great Safari Zone in Fuschia or the immense radio tower in Goldenrod. Those names were as but distant lands to her, as foreign sounding as the regions of Sinnoh and Hoenn were to other Kanto-jin. Route 1, so named because it had been used as a salt run in primitive times, bestrode a rocky ridge that lorded over Pallet as if it were protecting it from the outside world.

Yet none of this occurred to Ashley as she took her first steps out of Pallet Town. Her primary concern at the moment was avoiding mud puddles that might stain her official League sneakers, so she gingerly watched her steps as she trudged through the foot-tall grass. She wore her socks high, as was apparently the fashion in the bigger cities of Kanto, but the top edges of the grass grazed her calves even so. She briefly considered putting off her walk to Viridian to change into something more practical, but she was loathe to do so—who said a trainer couldn't look cute? Her outfit was all League memorabilia—she saved up and mail ordered her ensemble bit by bit while waiting for her fourteenth birthday—and she wasn't about to switch into some boring leggings just for a walk into town.

It was a bit of a walk, though, Ashley realized. Though the route was a straight path along the ridge, various rocky outcroppings forced the road to snake side to side along switchbacks, making them popular for joggers but a source of frustration for Ashley. She was breathing heavily by the time she had reached the fourth curve in the trek, and she momentarily paused to bend over and catch her breath.

She wondered how Red was faring, and turned her head to take a look. He was looking at her quite intently, but abruptly turned his gaze to the trees that bordered the ridge. Ashley thought it was rather strange that he wouldn't meet her eye.

"Sorry about that," she apologized as she began to catch her breath.

"Huh? Sorry about what?" Red looked at her with bewilderment. He still seemed to look a trifle annoyed. If he was bitter about not getting his own Pokémon, he would never show it. If she knew her brother, he would make a big show about being tough and would resent it if she tried to cheer him up.

"I didn't have the most comfortable sleep last night, so I'm a little winded. I hope you don't mind terribly," she told him, avoiding any mention of his particular situation.

"Oh," he said, still looking surprised. It was likely that he didn't expect her to be so tired. "We can take a break, if you want."

Ashley didn't want Red thinking of her as a lightweight, but she was too tired to pretend otherwise. She leaned her back against a nearby tree, on the sinus of the curving route, and sat down on the floor to stretch out her legs. They felt wobbly and her calves were positively _burning_—she had no idea that one could get so tired from walking such a short distance—why, she could still see the roofs of the various buildings in Pallet if she looked down to her left. She supposed that walking uphill must be more taxing than even running about on flat ground, which she'd done her whole life.

She expected Red to take the tree next to her, but he sat cross-legged in front of her and began picking at the grass. She paid him no mind—he didn't have to be such a terrible show-off about not being tired. It was something Gary would do. It didn't matter, anyway.

Ashley lifted the strap of her bag above her head and dropped it on the ground between her legs. She opened the middle pocket and rummaged through her various supplies until she found what she was looking for, a nutritious bar in a foil wrapper—or rather, what appeared to be the corpse of a nutritious bar after it had been mauled by a rampaging Sandslash. Ashley made a face, but ate it anyway—smashed food was better than no food, and she hadn't eaten all day.

While she was eating her chocolatey protein bar, Red appeared to be deep in thought. Ashley wasn't sure what that was about, until she realized that the poor guy was probably hungry too—naturally he was too busy pretending to be a manly man to acknowledge the fact. She shook her head and smiled knowingly to herself, and scrounged up another bar.

"Here you go!" she called cheerily as she tossed the bar to him. Yet again, his head jerked in surprise, and the bar ended up hitting the brim of his cap and knocking it ajar. Ashley found the effect comical, and brought up her right hand to politely cover a giggle.

He frantically tried to fix his hat, and then began fiddling with the wrapper of the nutrient bar until he was finally able to tear it open. The two of them sat there eating quietly. Ashley found it a little eerie—though they hadn't spoken much on the hike up, it seemed a little awkward to be just sitting in the grass silently. Finally, she just couldn't take the silence any longer, and spoke up.

"So why didn't you pack any food? If you had gone separately like Gary, you'd be starving" she asked him, in a far more patronizing tone than she had intended. It was just too _weird_ to be sitting here, quiet like this. Sure, they'd drifted a bit over the last few years, but they used to be so close! If he was upset, he should be able to talk to her about it, darnit.

"What? I'd earn money by battling, of course," Red said between bites.

Ashley made a deliberate show of swallowing her food and gently brushing away food from the sides of her mouth before speaking. "How would you make a living from battling? You couldn't make nearly enough to pay for steady food, much less a place to stay." She tactfully decided not to mention the fact that he didn't even own a single Pokémon.

"Who needs a place to stay?" Red asked earnestly, "how would I complete this Pokédex if I sat around in a house all day? I could do that back in Pallet."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Honestly Red, you're such a child! I was planning on getting a decent job at Viridian, and enrolling at the city gym on the side. Whether I want to participate in Contests or the League, I'm going to have to work for a while first, and then get some training done. How are you going to travel around if you can't even afford transportation?"

Red's face turned blank, as if he were taken aback by the question. "I hadn't thought about it. I suppose I was just thinking of wandering the world and catching Pokémon… I sorta forgot that I need to eat and sleep too."

Ashley was going to chide him for his foolishness, but then she felt something tickle her leg. She moved her other leg over to rub at the affected spot when she felt something warm and fuzzy dart out from beneath the arch of her knees. Ashley shrieked and jumped to her feet, suspecting the worst.

Red blinked and asked her what was wrong, and Ashley just continued to point and shriek at a dark shape in the grass. She grabbed her bag and started swinging it wildly against the floor, not caring that she could have damaged the contents inside. She kept thwacking it over and over until a snarl issued from the grass; then a trail of jostled blades revealed the Pokémon's hasty retreat.

Ashley began to calm down. "It was… a… icky… rattata," she managed.

Her brother laughed in disbelief. "You freaked out because of a little rattata?"

Ashley stomped at the ground and glared at him with blazing eyes. "It _touched my leg_! Just… ewwww, do you know where those filthy vermin have been? They, like, eat trash all day!"

She wasn't a girly girl, like Gary's older sister, but there were some things that made her revert into one, and a rattata was one of them. Red seemed to notice this uncharacteristic change, because he started teasing her and calling her a sissy. He laughed for a while, then abruptly stopped and looked very penitent.

Sighing, Ashley slung her bag across her right shoulder and looked mournfully at her half-eaten bar, now covered in dirt. Well, if the filthy rodent wanted it so badly, it was welcome to it now. Still, it probably wouldn't do to leave the wrapper there—so Ashley knelt down to grab it, and she stuffed it in one of her bag pockets. She reflected that perhaps it would have been more practical to wear jeans, but she could send up for more of her clothes once she was settled in an inn or something of that nature.

Ashley started walking back down one of the switchbacks, prompting Red to ask her where she was going. She told him that she wasn't about to saunter through rodent-infested grass and that if he had sense, he'd come with her.

"What? No way sis, I'm hoping to catch that little rattata. You gave it a nasty surprise, and I'm going to try and capture it while it's weakened. That is, uh, if you don't mind," Red declared, starting out strong but ending on a kind of hesitant note.

She shuddered—not timorously, but out of sheer disgust. "Nooooo, no, you're welcome to that filthy creature!"

Shaking her head in wonder, Ashley walked down along the same path in the direction of the previous kink in the road. She tried looking for places where climbing would be easy, but she wasn't having much success. The ledges were short enough that she might be able to leap down from them, but they seemed just too tall to climb.

Experimentally, she went up to one of the shorter edges and tossed her hat over the top of the ledge. She could just about reach the top of the ledge, and she pressed her palms against the top and hefted with all her might. It took several tries before she realized that jumping up while trying to press downward with her palms was actually counterproductive, and that she hadn't the upper body strength to hold herself up like that. Then she tried propping a foot against the rocky surface of the ledge, and pushed horizontally against it while pressing downward with her hands. Eventually she got enough force to push her trunk above the surface of the ledge, and as she pressed her chest against her arms, she rocked forward to shift her weight to relieve some serious pressure off from her arms and finished by kicking her right leg over the ledge, allowing her to pull her remaining leg up. This accomplished, she collapse against the dirt and let her forehead rest against the ground.

She was exhausted, sweaty, and dirt had gotten everywhere. This must've been why people had Pokémon for the long grass—climbing these ledges was insane and exhausting. Ashley made a mental note never to try it again. She lay there for a while, bizarrely propping herself up by her knees and forehead but unwilling to move to a more comfortable position until she'd rested for a few minutes. When she got up, she half-expected Red to be standing right there, as her ever-present shadow, but he was still playing in the grass.

After putting her hat back on and brushing some dirt from her arms and skirt hem, she took a stroll towards Red. Though exhausted, she was flushed with confidence after her little stunt. When her legs began to rustle the tall grass, Red held out a hand for her to stop, and then bright a single finger to his mouth to gesture for silence. The whole while, his eyes never left a little bird that stood atop a little boulder.

Ashley waited for him to make a move, but he didn't. His eyes flicked back to her, and he tilted his head towards the bird. Did he want her to catch it? She wasn't sure, but she had to admit she was impressed with how stoic he was about all this. He was being a good brother—she supposed he had been looking forward to becoming a trainer just as long as she had.

Ashley pulled her bag to her stomach and tried to quietly remove a Pokéball from the left pocket. Then she gently pressed the button at its center to increase its diameter from its storage size, and cocked her arm for a throw. She knew that she was supposed to weaken it first, but pidgeys were relatively easy to capture and she didn't want to risk scaring the thing away. After taking a deep breath, she flipped her wrist and let the ball fly.

The ball began to arc downwards as soon as it left her hand, and it landed in the grass with a little plopping sound. She had missed the pidgy by at least three feet! The bird noticed the sound and hopped off the stone and scurried towards the ball, and Ashley heard noises that sounded suspiciously like the bird was pecking at it in curiosity.

Red, for his part, again succumbed to laughter. At least she had the decency to try to stifle her amusement at his expense, Ashley thought, but Red seemed to enjoy her humiliation. "You throw like a _girl_," he said mirthfully.

"I _am_ a girl," Ashley countered hotly. Her cheeks were furiously red with embarrassment. Unwilling to be daunted, Ashley reached into her bag for another Pokéball. She was sorely tempted to throw it at Red, but she didn't have it in her to be so petty.

The pidgey was still pecking away at the Pokéball. Ashley was certain that it was aware of them, but it mustn't have regarded either of them as a threat. It wasn't important; Pokémon psychology wasn't her interest, training was. She cocked her arm back again, and then threw the ball in an identically girly fashion.

This time, the short arc was perfect. The ball hit the ground near the pidgey and snapped open, revealing a bright yellow light that seemed to envelop the bird before drawing it in. After the light subsided, Ashley could see the grass rustling around where the Pokéball had landed. She rushed towards it, hoping that it wasn't about to burst open with an angry pidgey: being raked by talons would sort of ruin her day.

The ball was completely still when Ashley had reached it. That means she had caught the Pokémon! The only trouble was that she wasn't entirely sure which of the two balls contained the pidgey. Not wanting to embarrass herself again, Ashley picked up a ball in each hand and clipped both of them to her skirt band after pressing the button to shrink them to just smaller than the width of her palm. Now she had three Pokeballs resting against the small of her back, though only two of them contained actual Pokémon. Still, she felt like an actual trainer now.

She turned towards Red and beamed. "I caught my first Pokémon!" After jumping in the air a few times in pure joy, she turned towards Red, who had been watching her celebrate. "Thanks for letting me catch it, but don't you still need a Pokémon?"

"Actually, I caught that rattata you encountered earlier. You weakened it by hitting it with your bag, I think." Red looked at the ground and dug at the dirt with the tips of his sneakers. "So I thought it was only fair that I helped you."

"That was very sweet of you, brother," she said sincerely. She walked towards him a few steps and gave his hand a happy little squeeze, and favored him with a very thankful smile. Red continued to kick at the dirt, but Ashley could have sworn that he might have been smiling too.

There was little excitement during the rest of the hike. There was one more zig and one more zag, and then the two young trainers reached the terminus of Route 1 and looked out as Viridian City spread before them. The place was vast, stretching from eye to eye in a way that Pallet Town never could have. There were so many roads and buildings that Ashley was utterly bewildered—and the people! She could have sworn she saw at least fifty people milling about on the street right in front of them, and could scarcely imagine how many people lived in the city—perhaps even a thousand!

She knew there was one place to start, though. She spotted a rather large building to the north and west, build into the stone of a mountain outcropping and decorated in a rather ornamental fashion. Even from this distance, she could make out the outline of a large Pokéball gracing the pediment of that gargantuan structure. Surely this was the city's Pokémon Center, what else could it be? There, she would find all the information she needed about how to make a living in Viridian as a trainer.

This, though, would turn out to be another one of the many surprises she'd have today.

The two of them walked through a narrow mountain pass and left the bustle of the city behind. Ashley reflected that the Pokémon Center was located in an awfully inconvenient location, but the quality of the road seemed to suggest that this pass was being used for something important—and what could be more important than the city's Pokémon Center? Well, the building could turn out to be the gym. That wouldn't be too terrible.

As the pass gave way to an opening, Ashley could spot the roof of that large building rising beyond the top of a nearby thicket of pine trees. The path looked like it skirted around the forest and hugged the mountainous walls of the opening—hopefully it did eventually lead to that building. Ashley was beginning to think that this secluded place was not the likeliest place for a Pokémon Center, and was about to tell Red the same when she spotted a familiar figure turning into this very path.

"Oh great…" she mumbled under her breath as the figure resolved itself to be Gary's. She knew he'd have something to smart crack about, and she wasn't quite in the mood for it. It had been a long day, and the sun was beginning to set below the western mountain peaks—Ashley wanted nothing more than to take the rest of the day easy.

She banished all signs of exhaustion from her face as Gary drew nearer; it simply wouldn't do for him to see her exhausted. Had she known she was going to run into him, she'd have tried neatening up a little: her clothes were still looking a bit dusty from her earlier exertions. Ashley hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"Yo, Ashie girl!" Gary greeted her with a half-wave, "you're headin' for the Pokémon League? Forget it! I bet you don't even have any badges."

Ashley didn't care for his tone. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "And I suppose you do?"

Gary affected nonchalance. "Nah, I was just checking out the opposition. Turns out they're clever and try to keep the competition in the dark. Guess they figured I'd be a threat?" he snorted, and sounded very pleased with himself.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "I'm _sure_ that was the reason." His attitude could get very tiresome—Gary never realized that other people didn't enjoy talking about him as much as he did.

"Somebody's saucy today. Maybe I'll just have to show you my new Pokémon." If anything, Gary sounded even smugger.

"Fine, if that'll shut you up," Ashley said jokingly. She reached behind her and picked up one of the Pokéballs with her right hand. Hoping desperately that this wasn't the empty one, she let it fly.

Gary tossed his as well, and two identical flashes produced two identical Pokémon.

"Perfect! Let's see which of us is really the better trainer, then. Pidgey, tackle attack!" Gary gestured animatedly towards Ashley's pidgey.

Ashley belatedly realized that she hadn't researched her new Pokémon at all, and that she had no idea what it could do. She couldn't just grab her Pokédex now and look like an idiot in front of Gary, so she did the only thing she could think of to avoid embarrassment: pretend that she knew what she was doing.

"Counter-tackle!" she ordered with faux confidence. But as she watched, her pidgey just stood around pecking at the ground—which was asphalt, rather than dirt! The thing didn't even notice the other bird running towards it. Ashley covered part of her face and watched as Gary's Pokémon slammed straight into hers and knocked it over. Then, her disbelief mounting, she watched as her Pokémon began to _flee_ from its assailant.

"Hey! Call your Pokémon back!" Gary demanded, outraged. "There's no running from a trainer battle! I can't believe this. What a coward!"

Ashley was too stunned to feel embarrassment or shame. What was her pidgey doing? She had no choice but to recall it. As she reattached the Pokéball to her skirt, she fingered her other Pokéball and thought about her battle with Gary earlier today. Could her dratini even battle?

Gary's pidgey stood there, somehow looking as smug as its owner. The bird even had some slightly wild plumage that reminded her of Gary's own hairstyle, and she wanted nothing more than to see her Pokémon punch it in the face… or tackle it, or anything like that, really. She knew she was being petty again, but she felt it was justifiable after another embarrassing defeat.

The bird's trainer smirked. "Going to send your big scary dragon next?"

As much as she would have liked to, Ashley decided it would be irresponsible. What kind of trainer would let a Pokémon get beaten up twice in one day? No, dratini deserved a break—she would take her lumps instead of her Pokémon.

"No. I concede the match," Ashley said wistfully.

"What was that?" Gary asked gleefully.

"Don't push it," Ashley warned. "You won."

Gary recalled his Pokémon, and then advanced across their roadside battleground to extend a hand to Ashley. "Good try there, sport," he said condescendingly.

Ashley shook his hand and blinked back tears. "Thanks… but I am clearly in over my head."

Gary, somehow, managed to show sympathy. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her right arm. "Aww, come on, don't be like that. You'll take all the fun out of it."

"Yes, I bet it's fun when you always win," Ashley retorted bitterly. She blew a stray hair out of her line of sight, which Gary mistook for a wistful sigh.

"No, seriously. You can't be a good trainer if you're so serious about it. Come on, you used to smile all the time. You've gotta just learn to relax and it'll come naturally." The two of them had begun walking back towards Viridian City, completely ignoring Red.

"You think I can do it?" Ashley asked him, unsure why she was revealing her insecurities.

"Sure thing, babe, you've just gotta take the time to do things right. Train the suckers, y'know? How's a wild bird you just caught gonna understand your orders?"

What he said made a lot of sense. The same thing had happened to her earlier in the day, too. Clearly she had to actually train her Pokémon—but she didn't exactly want to play the role of drill instructor with them either. She felt she had a special bond with her dratini, and it deserved to be raised, not just trained. Perhaps even that oblivious bird of hers might gain a little sensibility if she paid some attention to it. How had Gary managed to drill his Pokémon on attack orders in just a few hours, though? The hike alone should have taken him a while…

Ashley was pondering this for a while, and she had completely forgotten that she was still walking in Gary's arms. After a while, she realized that he his body was shaking. She looked up, and realized that he was quietly laughing at her. Laughing. At _her_.

"What's your damage?" She jerked her shoulders so that his arm was knocked away.

He looked at her, and then his eyes widened. "Oh… _oh_. I'm sorry, are you going to run crying to big brother?"

Now she jumped away from his arm completely, and then faced towards him, forcing him to stop in his tracks. "_Am not_," she said, sounding extremely frustrated. "I can handle myself."

"Oh, you're not?" he said casually. "Then what's your deal, Ash? Come on. You can't fool me. If you don't think you're tough enough, maybe you should follow some good advice and quit while you're still ahead… although I guess you'd actually have to win sometime for the saying to make any sense? Don't let your bad attitude spoil it for everyone else, geez "

Ashley didn't know what to say. She felt acutely embarrassed about the whole thing. Her anger at him evaporated in a storm of desperation, and somehow he had gotten her to think that she'd denied him the rightful privileges of victory, or something. She wasn't stupid—she knew exactly what he was doing, but somehow it was still working. Why did Gary always win?

"Well, I've got to get going, tell me next time." Gary sketched her a mocking salute, and then walked past her. On the way, though, he couldn't resist the opportunity to smack her rear, and it _stung_.

Ashley flinched and bit her lip to control a yelp that would've doubtless thrilled her tormentor. But he'd pushed her too far now. So she called out his name, knowing that his curiosity would stop him.

"Mm?" he stopped, and turned back to face her.

She turned around too, and stepped very close to him. Then she spat on his face. She didn't know what possessed her to do that. She was just thinking of dressing him down with some harsh words, but it just… happened. Expecting his inevitably harsh reaction, she tensed and waited for an explosion of annoyance and anger, hoping he wouldn't get violent.

But he just laughed cheerfully. "That's not very sportsmanly, Ashie-poo," he taunted, using the childish nickname she so thoroughly hated. "I guess losing twice has gotta hurt. But like I said, I gotta run. Smell ya later, babe."

He. What! That was _so_ not the point! She wanted to run after him and tell him that he was getting it all wrong, that it wasn't the loss that bothered her. She would have, but she suspected that Gary was trying to bait her in order to humiliate her further. Even his little pep talk earlier had been a way for him to gain pride at her expense.

He was right, too. The loss did bother her. After he left, Red caught up with her. Unaware of anything that had gone on since the battle, he had blithely began to offer the same recommendations that Gary had—and Ashley just snapped. She yelled at him, even though it wasn't his fault, and Gary's accusation about the two of them had just made it worse. She didn't want or need his help—she wasn't about to be treated like baby sister. She could do everything on her own!

So the two of them separated. Ashley went on a walk, though the sun had set during their earlier contretemps. Her anger had subsided relatively quickly, and she didn't seek out the evening walk because her mood was dark or anything of the sort. She was just disappointed in herself, that was all.

She certainly did still have her insecurities about being a trainer, but she wasn't about to change course now. Her plan was, as ever, to enroll in a gym and learn how to become a Pokémon trainer. She even found the gym during her wanderings of the town, but it seemed like it hadn't been used for some time. It looked ramshackle and derelict, but it still had traces of grandeur—the building did have a larger façade than any in the city, and it was made of stone, which did contribute to its timeworn appearance but also gave it a quiet dignity.

Ashley had always been a dreamer, and something about the League's lofty reputation appealed to her. She knew it was unrealistic to imagine a girl from Pallet would ever become a gym leader at a big city, but that didn't stop her from wanting it. The League memorabilia she wore was enough to sate her desires for a time, but the building awakened a little something in her. It wasn't a big revelatory moment… nothing of the sort: it just stiffened her spine, which was exactly what she needed at the moment. No epiphany could have been timelier.

After encountering a friendly police officer, she'd learned that the nearest operating gym was in a town called Pewter, which was a two days' walk away. Tonight she would take advantage of the hospitality rooms that Pokémon Centers offered trainers (well, they were more like communal hostels, a wing for each gender), and tomorrow—well, tomorrow was another day, as the saying went.

She finally reached the Pokémon Center a few hours later, carrying a few extra things she had picked up in the city. Red was there, looking as if he was waiting for her—ever supportive—but he didn't meet her eyes, and looked at the ground instead.

Ashley walked up to him and clapped him on the shoulders. When he looked up at her, she favored him with a happy, even thankful, smile. "Okay, brother. Let's go on that world adventure together."


	3. Chapter II  League of Women Trainers

**Chapter Two – The League of Women Trainers**

_Viridian City – Route 2_

Oh, it was good to be hitting the road again, Ashley thought to herself. After spending their first night in a Pokémon Center, the two young trainers were very eager to be on their way. The lodgings were more comfortable than she might have expected, given how many trainers were passing through the city at any one time—not to mention the fact that they were free. Having a pleasant night's sleep after her first day's ordeal did wonders for her mood, and Red seemed in better spirits as well—though the guy seemed perpetually optimistic. Ashley envied him in that, though she wondered how he could get by without worrying about important, practical things!

In a way, he reminded him of the other trainers she had met at the Pokémon center. She'd grown up around boys, so she was unaccustomed to what girls her own age acted like and was surprised to know that they weren't all that interested in discussing the finer points of Pokémon training. Instead, they seemed happy to chatter about how cute their newest outfits were or whose Pokémon had better styling. It just seemed terribly vulgar. She'd tried asking them why they were trainers rather than coordinators, but they'd just looked at her with complete scorn. She also didn't understand why they were babbling about boys while getting dressed; Ashley thought it was awkward enough with the communal bathing facilities, but she just didn't feel that talkative when she was wrapped in a towel and trying to make sense of her soaking hair—they'd ignored her all night and _now_ they wanted to ask all these probing personal questions?

Ashley wondered if all girls were like this, or if these habits were peculiar to those from Viridian. She supposed she could have asked Red if he'd spoken to any trainers in the male quarters, but she wasn't exactly sure how to phrase her question so that it would make sense. She wasn't about to explain her reasons for asking, because it just didn't seem right to gossip about the other girls that way. Ashley couldn't fathom why they cared about silly things when they were Pokémon trainers, but it would be another thing altogether to speak poorly of them to someone else. Ashley didn't want to be that kind of person.

The two of them were walking through Viridian City, passing through intersection after intersection on their way to the Viridian Forest. Though she was occupying herself by reading a book she had borrowed from the Pokémon Center, Ashley had to admit she was starting to get irritated by the amount of time it was taking to leave the city. Why would anybody ever make a city of this size? It just went on and on for no reason. She understand that they needed to make room for houses for all the city's residents, but why did so many people need to live here? It made no sense.

Completely engrossed in her book, Ashley was scarcely paying attention to the sidewalk in front of her. One moment, she was reading about the history of the Pokémon League and the next, she felt a sudden pain in her stomach. She yelped in pain and snapped shut her book before realizing that Red had a hand on her belly.

"Red, I'm in the middle of reading, here!"

"You nearly got yourself killed by that car!" Red scolded her, pointing at a car that was speeding ever out of eyesight. He was right; the driver would have run her over had she been crossing the street at the time.

"Oh… thank you, Red," Ashley said softly, feeling the touch of her own mortality for the first time. Though goosebumps were beginning to form on her skin, Ashley felt her cheeks warming. She admitted to herself that she should have paid more attention, but she still turned her head away so that Red wouldn't notice her embarrassment..

Red misinterpreted her action, and jerked his arm away as if he'd been scalded. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to uh, I was just trying to stop you and it was sudden—"

Ashley hesitated, than turned around and hugged Red. It wasn't that much of a hug—she couldn't reach around his backpack—but she didn't want him feeling awkward about it. They were siblings, for goodness sakes!

Ashley continued to read, but she was paying her surroundings considerably more attention this time around. She noticed that Red kept looking back at her every so often. He was probably worried about her. Ashley shook her head, wishing that he would trust her a little bit. She did not need a babysitter.

She caught his eye the third time he turned back to look at her, after they'd finished crossing the street and entered yet another residential block. It didn't look like there was too much further to go, as the ground was already starting to slope upward towards the hills that bounded Viridian. She wasn't looking forward to yet another hike, and she knew next to nothing about this forest that separated Viridian City from the mountain passes that contained the Pewter Gym. She was certainly traveling a lot further than she'd expected to, but nobody had thought to tell her that the Viridian Gym wasn't operating.

When Red realized Ashley had noticed his attention, he coughed and pretended to look at the scenery. It was clear enough that she wasn't buying it, so he tried talking about something else instead. "So sis… what are you reading there that's so exciting?"

Ashley looked up from her book again, "Oh, I'm reading _The Annals of the Pokémon League_."

Red made a face. "Why on earth would you want to read THAT? Did mother ground you, or something? You don't have to do it, there's no way she could possibly find out."

As Red was hanging back, Ashley waited until she had caught up with him before speaking. "You know, not everybody thinks reading is a punishment," she murmured, with the bulk of her attention still on the book.

Ashley could see Red shaking his head out of the corner of her eyes. "I know, I know. I mean, I would totally understand if it was a great story or something—"

"It's _many_ great stories," she insisted, "stories of the finest Pokémon masters the world has ever seen. Titans of battle, with skill and wisdom that will remain legendary throughout the ages… there's a lot to learn from them."

"Well, that's nice, I guess," Red said, sounding unconvinced. "But why not learn on your own? Doesn't this take the fun out of it? Who wants to be exactly the same as somebody else? Yeah, yeah, they're good trainers… but I bet they didn't learn it from a book."

"It's not just some book," Ashley replied hotly, "it's specifically for budding young trainers interested in learning from the best the League has to offer! It's written by Lord Lance Blackthorne, the leader of the Élite Four. He's the world's authority on dragon Pokémon."

"Why didn't you get a book on dragons, then?" Red asked. "That seems like it might be interesting, especially since you found that one."

"I don't think he's written any. One of his predecessors on the League—I think one of his ancestors—wrote one, but it's impossibly rare. It's one of those old-fashioned handwritten manuscripts… I thought Professor Oak might have one, but I couldn't possibly ask him for that, nor did I want to travel all the way back to Pallet after we spent a whole day trying to get out of there."

"I would have gone back with you," Red offered, always paternalistic. Just because their father was gone didn't mean she needed a surrogate!

Ashley shook her head. "This book is probably better for me… it has information on every member of the Pokémon League in Kanto and Johto, including the gym leader in Pewter. Besides, I like reading the stories of the old masters… Lance is a wonderful, inspirational writer…"

"Lance?" Red repeated. "Are you on a first name basis with the League boss now? He doesn't happen to have his picture in the back of the book, does he?"

Ashley sharply shut the book and held it in the arm opposite from Red. "Maybe it does, I haven't looked."

"You're blushing! You… you have a crush!" Red accused, seeming quite amused.

Ashley hit him on the shoulder. "Shut up. He's a great man, it only makes sense to admire him…"

"Yeah? Do you whisper little wishes to yourself as you admire him?" Red taunted. He looked like he was about to go on, but he stopped when he saw the embarrassment manifest on her face. He was silent for a little while, then said. "I thought you were going to train at a gym, work your way up… isn't it a little ambitious to try the League challenge? Trainers three times our age have struggled with it."

"I'm tired of losing. After I lost to Gary again, I took a long walk… and seeing the magnificence of that abandoned gym, I imagined how spectacular it must have looked in its prime. I think about the League and all that it stands for, and I want to be a part of that.. something greater than myself. I want to make a name in history, I want to represent the League and do good things in the world… I want my life to have more meaning than living day to day, thinking of nothing but food, money, and entertainment."

"You can do all that at a gym," Red pointed out. "Why the change of heart about the challenge?"

"I want to be the very best," she whispered, "like no one ever was." It was just the faintest thing, but somehow saying it out loud made her soul exult. She knew at that moment that she had identified her calling. She knew that it would not be easy, but she refused to let herself envision disappointment before she had even started. As far as she was concerned, she could do it. She could see it in her mind's eye: her first confrontation with Mistress Lorelai Kanna, the vanguard of the Élite Four.

"What about you?" she asked him. "Weren't you the one who planned to be the errant trainer, traveling and battling?"

"No," Red said. "Not any more. I saw your battles with Gary, and I don't think that's for me. I don't think I'll make my Pokémon fight."

Ashley stared at him. "Don't tell me that you're going to become one of those insane activists: as long as battle is regulated by the proper authorities and handled with the proper diligence and discipline, it's perfectly safe for the Pokémon. "

Red laughed. "You are such a League nerd. Don't worry, I haven't gone crazy… it's just. They say that trainers find something stirring in battle, that something awakens in them and they get these instincts. I felt nothing. It just seemed rather sad."

Ashley frowned. "I… I hope I haven't been making you feel miserable," she said in a tinny voice, squeezing his shoulder with affection. "I like having you around while everything else around me changes, but you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to."

"I don't mean it like that at all! I mean, I don't really feel like taking on the gym challenge but depending on how long it takes, I will probably stay with you for a while. I think I want to explore the area around Pewter… catching Pokémon is what appeals to me most. I had a great time trying to snatch that rattata, and felt so proud to have caught one rather than just receive one."

"You should do whatever makes you happy," Ashley said with a smile. "Still, it's weird that you're saying this while wearing that expo cap of yours."

Red turned an incredulous look in her direction. "Says the girl decked head to toe in League regalia. Seriously, you could be a walking advertisement."

"What? You well know that I saved up for these! I insisted on it, even though mother was perfectly willing to buy them for me. I volunteered at the lab for three months to get the hat, the shoes required a paper route, the tanktop was for helping clean the lagoon, I spent three years allowance on the chapeau and two on the skirt, and socks and all that."

"What's wrong with you? Pokémon League socks? Ever wonder why Gary loves giving you a hard time?" Red seemed very amused.

"Clearly you're _very_ different," Ashley replied.

"Between your nerdy League paraphernalia and his quest to win the jerk of the year award, yeah, I feel like I'm the only normal person to live in Pallet Town."

"_Hey!_"


End file.
